ASA and Cap CodesASA and Cap Codes

Charlie GroverCharlie Grover

The ASAThe ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. independent regulator of advertising across all media. We apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the We apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Our work includes Committees of Advertising Practice. Our work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.advertisements.

What does the ASA What does the ASA represent?represent?

Each year, the UK public sees many millions of ads, direct marketing and sales promotions about products, services, causes and awareness campaigns. The vast majority of ads comply with the advertising rules. The ASA are there to take action against those that don’t.  Last year the ASA dealt with 31,458 complaints and thoroughly assessed every one of those concerns and investigated ads that seemed to breach the rules.  

What is the ASA’s role and What is the ASA’s role and functionfunction

Their mission is to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society.The ASA aim to achieve their mission by getting better at regulating ads in all media, and in particular by:-Making a success of regulating online ads -Being an effective part of the response to societal issues shown to be affected by advertising -Placing more emphasis on prevention rather than cure -Being more efficient and in tune with consumers, business and society 

Procedures and standard of Procedures and standard of serviceservice

The ASA’s procedures are transparent and open to scrutiny. They also work to published standards of service.  They commit to:-Being accessible to members of the public and the advertising industry -Resolving complaints without undue delay, whilst recognising that complex complaints can take longer than the average -Being effective in meeting the needs of our customers, whether members of the public or industry -Delivering a high quality and professional service -Being open about our procedures and our decision making, and accountable for our performance

CAP CodesCAP Codes

To analyse adverts to see if they are okay to air on television, the ASA check them by looking for CAP codes. If an advert use a single CAP code then the advert will be deemed inappropriate and be scrapped straight away.

What are the Cap Codes?What are the Cap Codes?There are many codes that need to be addressed when producing an advert, and many precudures need to be put into place. There are regulation and terms documents and downloads on the ASA’s website. Producers of adverts would have to look at these and produce their advert accordingly.A few examples of codes and terms in which adverts need to follow, are;Misleading customersHarmful and offensive advertsChildrenPrivacyDistance SellingEnvironment ClaimsGamblingAlcoholMotoringTobaccoEach section above has its own rules regarding what they can show in adverts;

Below, are the different sections of rules that adverts need to apply to, each section can be downloaded and viewed online. Businesses would need to look at these in detail to ensure that their advert is appropriate.

How is the ASA important in How is the ASA important in AdvertisingAdvertising

Consumers and customers are the main priority of any business, if they’re not happy then the business wont achieve or succeed. The ASA is important as it ensures both partys are happy. They look into adverts and analyse them to make sure that no consumer will be mislead or offended. A succesful advert is one that sells a product or service, attracts the market and consumers, and puts the business’ name out there. These things need to be remembered for the right reason, and the ASA’s aim is to do so.